Dry Rock

[Kgforlife]

I have 25 pounds of live rock in a tank with 2 percs and a basslet i bought 50 pounds of dry rock i was wondering if i could just add the rock to the tank. Dumb question i know but i would not want to fail now should i just rinse it off? and and was just going to stack it with no silicone or anything is this ok? thanks

 

[steelhealr]

Dry rock? Do you mean dead 'old' live rock? SH

 

[ben1987]

i wouldnt add it straight to the tank if its dead old live rock.

i would soak in RO water first...changing the water 100% for fresh RO maybe twice a week. Soak with a powerhead. Do this for maybe a month...Then soak it in your old water change water for a bit so its salted. Then test the water and make sure theres nothing strange going on with PH etc. At this point if you can spare a decent chunk of LR from your tank to seed it, throw that in too.


If its ocean rock - i wouldnt add it to the tank full stop, its not very pourus so its just a waste of space imo

 

[Kgforlife]

i believe it is rock from a quarry it shows no signs of life before and it is very pourous and dusty

 

[Ren&Stumpy]

if its rock from a quarry then dont bother with it at all

 

[Kgforlife]

 

[Kgforlife]

alright sorry dont know how to make them smaller but see they dont look like they have ever been alive except the one piece but they are not from a quarry they are from www.justliverock.com and they are dry rock

 

[seffieuk]

..

Get it in to salty water and see what it looks like then but its not looking hopeful

Seffie x
just took a look at the website, did you buy the 'dry rock'?

 

[sorgan]

Use or as a base and put live rock on top of it? It looks nice and knobbly and i bet it would look nice in the tank.

Maybe if kept with good LR it may seed in time. I have a piece of LR that looks much like one of those except it's covered in purple and full of critters.

 

[seffieuk]

The question really is, did you buy this as live rock or dry rock? If you bought it as live rock, then it certainly doesn't look live, if you bought the cheaper dry rock then its not live at all but can become live. The company says its the rock they use for their own aquaculture (they put it in the sea and wait for it to be seeded.

If you bought live rock, maybe they made a mistake and sent you dry rock instead - send them a polite email asking if there has been a mistake.

Seffie x

 

[Kgforlife]

oh yes i knew it was not live the only questions a have are do i have to soak it for hours because was it alive before and is dead now or can i just put it in after i rinse it because it never was alive yet i know it will seed after a while dont really care how long and yes i bought it as dry rock which is not alive

 

[Ren&Stumpy]

What you have there is what we all reef bones. Basically live rock that has been out of water for considerable time and become completely dry.

Reef bones are cheaper to buy but can cost you in the long run.

Most people reccommend jet washing them to remove the dust and small particles of stuff. Then soaking in RO water for a month or so changing 100% of the water every couple days testing for phosphates ammonia etc when these are low/gone then switch to salted heate with with a powerhead. Testing this aswell the water changes can go down to once a week, some people run a skimmer too but personal preference add a piece or 2 of actual liveroxk to help seed the reef bones when you have them in salted water.. Be warned this soaking process can lead to a massive stink so a garage with power I'd deal if you have it.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

hmmmmm personally when I have used it before I just washed it down with a jetwash and chucked it in. About 1/3 of my rock in my old 150l tank was this kind of rock and it is still in my 100g at the moment (and after over a year you cant tell the difference between this and the "real" liverock). It didn't cause me any problems but I wouldnt want to use as the only rock in the tank (better to just use it to put under your actual liverock).

However its probably best to err on the side of caution as suggested above.

 

[seffieuk]

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade - but that rock has never been live, its not reef bones, its from a quary. The company use it to create their live rock by putting it in the sea in Florida for years.

You are correct that it will become live after a while (as long as you have live rock in the tank), but it will take quite a long time - anyways, good as base rock as long as you have room in your tank to put the adequate amount of live rock in to filter your tank

Seffie x

 

[Kgforlife]

yea im pretty sure its not reef bones but seffie should i just rinse them off or do i need to soak them i dont want to seed them before i put them in i want them to seed while they are in the tank